A scare ... still scared. comforting words, advice, info, experiences? « Back to Group Discussions

[MarieWalter]

TW bleeding :(

Hi friends,

I had a really scary experience yesterday. I had walked most of the way home from campus (3 miles) and started feeling tired so got on the train for the last 2 stops. On the way walking up the stairs at the train station, I felt like I was accidentally peeing myself, but it didn't feel right; I didn't have a full bladder. I told my DH (thank goddess he was with me) I had to stop in a coffee shop and use the bathroom. I was bleeding. I had bled through my underwear and a big stain on my jeans. It was so scary. I was sure I had lost the baby at 16 wks, after I had finally stopped worrying about miscarriage. I called my midwife and she said I needed to go to the ER at the hospital my birth center is affiliated with, so we took a cab over.

The bleeding had mostly stopped, and the first nurse after we got into a room was so, so sweet. She immediately got a doppler and found the heartbeat for us. It had been about an hour since I found the blood at this point and I was overjoyed to hear a beautiful strong heartbeat. DH's first time to hear it, too, and he was in awe. I was still really worried though. They did an internal exam, ultrasound (my first), and Rhogam as I'm RH-. They could not find any reason for the bleeding, it had stopped, and my cervix was tightly closed, so we were released after about 4 hours (lots of waiting in between things).

On the upside, the ultrasound showed a beautiful baby, tons of movement, good measurements, organs, everything looking fine. It was sucking its thumb and fanning its fingers up and down while its hand was at its mouth. I couldn't stop saying "oh my god, oh my god." The placenta, cervical length, everything looked fine.

I woke up in the middle of the night back at home bleeding again, but much more lightly. I stayed awake for about 20 minutes and it stopped again. Called the midwife in the morning and she said that's not unusual after an initial bleed.

Of course, I am relieved that they couldn't see anything wrong, but after both bleeds, am worried sick, paranoid, and all of a sudden I feel so vulnerable. I had felt so strong and capable during this pregnancy, so proud of my body and excited to see all of the changes. Now I feel like a danger zone. I want to get back to the first place, but with every step I take today, I think, was that bleeding? Am I feeling bleeding again? I'm afraid to walk up and down stairs ... after I get up from a seat I glance down for blood ... etc etc.

I am so grateful to have this safe space to share. I would so appreciate hearing if anyone has had similar experiences in this or other pregnancies, or what you do to help yourself get back to those healthier places psychologically.

xoxo,

MarieWalter

[nstewart]

Originally Posted by MarieWalter 

TW bleeding :(

Hi friends,

I had a really scary experience yesterday. I had walked most of the way home from campus (3 miles) and started feeling tired so got on the train for the last 2 stops. On the way walking up the stairs at the train station, I felt like I was accidentally peeing myself, but it didn't feel right; I didn't have a full bladder. I told my DH (thank goddess he was with me) I had to stop in a coffee shop and use the bathroom. I was bleeding. I had bled through my underwear and a big stain on my jeans. It was so scary. I was sure I had lost the baby at 16 wks, after I had finally stopped worrying about miscarriage. I called my midwife and she said I needed to go to the ER at the hospital my birth center is affiliated with, so we took a cab over.

The bleeding had mostly stopped, and the first nurse after we got into a room was so, so sweet. She immediately got a doppler and found the heartbeat for us. It had been about an hour since I found the blood at this point and I was overjoyed to hear a beautiful strong heartbeat. DH's first time to hear it, too, and he was in awe. I was still really worried though. They did an internal exam, ultrasound (my first), and Rhogam as I'm RH-. They could not find any reason for the bleeding, it had stopped, and my cervix was tightly closed, so we were released after about 4 hours (lots of waiting in between things).

On the upside, the ultrasound showed a beautiful baby, tons of movement, good measurements, organs, everything looking fine. It was sucking its thumb and fanning its fingers up and down while its hand was at its mouth. I couldn't stop saying "oh my god, oh my god." The placenta, cervical length, everything looked fine.

I woke up in the middle of the night back at home bleeding again, but much more lightly. I stayed awake for about 20 minutes and it stopped again. Called the midwife in the morning and she said that's not unusual after an initial bleed.

Of course, I am relieved that they couldn't see anything wrong, but after both bleeds, am worried sick, paranoid, and all of a sudden I feel so vulnerable. I had felt so strong and capable during this pregnancy, so proud of my body and excited to see all of the changes. Now I feel like a danger zone. I want to get back to the first place, but with every step I take today, I think, was that bleeding? Am I feeling bleeding again? I'm afraid to walk up and down stairs ... after I get up from a seat I glance down for blood ... etc etc.

I am so grateful to have this safe space to share. I would so appreciate hearing if anyone has had similar experiences in this or other pregnancies, or what you do to help yourself get back to those healthier places psychologically.

xoxo,

MarieWalter

Oh I am so so sorry!  That would be so scary!!

Thank God everything is ok.

I didn't have this experience personally.  I did have a good friend have a very similar experience.  Unexplained "gush" of bleeding in the second tri.  There was nothing she could do but wait it out.  Her DS is now 30 months old.

I don't have much advice on how to get over this ordeal, other than to say that you will feel better with each passing day that you have no issues.

I pray that you have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy babe and that this is your only scare.

[kimble]

what a scary ordeal! I am so glad to hear that everything was ok when they checked you out though and hope this is a one-time event!

I have a friend who had a similar experience - woke up in the middle of the night in the middle of her second tri and found the sheets were covered in blood. She got pretty scared and went right to the hospital. As it turns out she had complete placenta previa which had slightly detached. She was told to go on bed rest for 2 weeks (she's a SAHM, but there's no such thing as bed rest with a 2 year old to take care of!) and was fine thereafter - but she was paranoid for the rest of the pregnancy.

I hope your experience isn't this bad - they should have been able to see where the placenta is so I hope it is fine!

sending lots of healing energy your way. Good luck as you recover emotionally.

[CoBabyMaker]

  I'm so sorry for your scare.  A friend of mine had some bleeding a while ago too.  It's been a couple months but baby is still doing well and wiggling like crazy.  She does try to watch that she isn't over exerting or lifting heavy things but everything has been fine.  I will pray for peace about this and continued healing!

[Quinalla]

I'm so sorry you had a scare, I'm glad you got to see the baby happy and healthy on the ultrasound! I haven't had any personal experience, but know several folks with unexplained bleeding that went on to have successful pregnancies, so I'm hoping you don't have anymore scares and everything goes well for you from here on out!

[TwilightJoy]

Oh hugs, Mama! I hope and pray that this is the last bleeding for you, and that you go on to deliver a healthy babe in May.

[lisedea]

I am so sorry this happened. I had pretty heavy bleeding earlier in my pregnancy and I don't know if I will EVER feel safe (especially since i have had miscarriages). I half expect to see blood each time I wipe...not good. Hang in there! Most likely, everything will be just fine--sometimes these things just happen!

[adventuregirl]

Oh Marie, I am so sorry this is happening. I don't really have any comparable experience, but wanted to send positive and healthy baby vibes your way! So happy you heard the hb and really hope you don't have any more bleeding!

[MarieWalter]

Thanks everyone for your kind comments. It was really helpful to write things down and hear some reassurance, especially those who had stories of friends with similar experiences that turned out just fine. I haven't had any more bleeding today. I have had some very slight cramps and backache, but I don't know if it's even related. I put DH on research duty (did not feel like I wanted to read all the scary stuff myself right now) and he found a site pointing out that this period of pregnancy is one of the times that the fetus/uterus are fastest growing. Even that could cause the bleeding, as the tissues are changing rapidly and with all the extra blood, would not be surprising to have a slight abrasion or small rupture that ended up being a lot of blood. That was comforting to hear. When I called my midwife to make a follow up appointment  (tomorrow) she said it could have been *vaginal* bleeding and not even placental/uterine/cervical. I am usually such a fact-oriented, statistics-based kind of person. This experience has been interesting because whatever I hear that seems comforting is what I want to believe. Maybe because there is nothing to be done regardless. Anyway.

I am still moving about very gingerly, paranoid especially about stairs since that's when it happened. Fortunately it's pretty easy to avoid long staircases. I was told no exercise this week, but as a city-dweller I have to walk to get places, so I've been moving at turtle speed. Still, overall feeling much more confident, totally obsessed with the printouts the ultrasound tech gave us, glad I have another appointment tomorrow to hear the heartbeat again and talk through things a little more with a midwife (versus ER staff, great as they were). I'm hoping to hear that they don't consider this to have put me in any higher-risk category, especially as I'm switching care due to my move in less than a month and will have to find a new provider to take me at that time in Germany.

Thanks again to all of you...

[BabySmurf]

I just wanted to post and say that I have had this experience twice so far this pregnancy.  The first time was at 7 weeks, the second at 12 weeks.  Both times it was after I had been doing more activity than normal  (but still not a tone of movement - nothing I thought to be concerned about it, just noticed the connection in retrospect).  Both times it was bright red blood that filled a couple panty liners, and both times I had spotting for about two days thereafter.  Had an ultrasound after each episode, and both times everything looked fine.  It's really hard not to worry, but try not to.  Many times there is no reason for the bleeding, and so long as you aren't having contractions, there shouldn't be anything to worry about, especially since most problems would have been uncovered in the ultrasound. 

After it happened with me, I was talking to my mom about it, and found out that it has happened to varying degrees with a lot of women in my (quite large) family.  It kind of helped to know that it's not uncommon.  My MW told me just to take common sense precautions.  Try not to overexert yourself, make sure that you are well fed and well hydrated...and if you feel the need to rest, then make sure that you do it.  There's not much else you can do.  I hope that things continue to be positive!